Sunday, October 10, 2004
SPECTATING
Well, I saw two things today...
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
It opens up with a sports radio call-in show talking about high school football, and from that moment, you get a feeling of how big high school football is in Texas. For me, it was my moment of "yeah, on King of the Hill, Bobby's middle school is Tom Landry Middle School for a reason!" Anyway, Coach Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) is bombarded left and right with suggestions from everyone's parents in town, many of the older men around town have state championship rings, and there's a ton of pressure. It's good, this movie. Boobie Miles was exactly the kind of guy I would have hated in high school. I guess I'll just say that Mike Winchell and Don Billingsley were two tough dudes. I was also glad when I realized Chris Comer (backup running back) wasn't Nick Cannon, as I had previously thought when seeing the promos. I'll have to say that I teared up after the final play (I'm man enough to admit this), because of two things -- (1) the resolutions of a couple of family-related things, and (2) it reminded me of the feeling I had when I realized I'd stepped onto a baseball field and donned a uniform for the last time. Baseball was something I never wanted to go away, and it was just there for me every year. Beginning when I was 13, it was what I did for at least the first half of summer. In my late teenage years, some other kids got jobs, and I played ball. So when I realized I'd have to find something else to do in the summer...tears. Hell, I'm a wimp. One last thing about the movie is that the music carries it along really well, and will probably be a very underrated part of the movie. Jeremy tipped me off to the band being Explosions From the Sky, which Allmusic.com says is an indie band from Texas that is "becoming touted as the next phenomenon in moody and dynamic instrumental indie rock." Three words that come to mind after seeing the film: LET'S GO MOJO!!
TRI-CITY TITANS VS. PUGET SOUND TOMAHAWKS
The Tomahawks took a 4-0 lead quickly, and I think that happened before the first period was half over. They dominated out of the gate, and for the most part didn't seem to commit a lot of mistakes. They also did a good job killing off their penalties, sans the double-minor in their own end in the third period. Since the game was out of Tri-City's reach for much of the game, there were some skirmishes and a few fights late in the game. But it wasn't just about the game for me, or the team that now has a record of 9-1, which anyone living in or near Bremerton should go see when they have the chance (next chance is in two weeks). I walked into the hometown rink for the first time (that popped up once I left town for college), and I'd forgotten how it felt like to walk into an ice rink. It's like walking near your grocer's freezer. Tickets are $7.50. I heard the crowd tonight was their largest of the season, and there were a couple hundred in there. Concessions are very reasonably priced; there's no $3 sodas or anything like that (I think they range from $1-$2). Ladies and gentlemen, the Puget Sound Tomahawks are quality entertainment and damn good hockey. They're 9-1. They looked great tonight. And so did the rink.
TARA KIRK
Okay, I didn't see Tara Kirk swim on Saturday, live or on television. But I've dug up Saturday's results for the fellow Bremerton Knight's doings. Saturday marked Day 3 at the FINA short course worlds, and the events at hand for Tara were the 4x100m medley relay (breaststroke leg) and the 100m breaststroke preliminaries and semifinals. Tara had the second leg of the 4x100m medley relay, matched up against Brooke Hanson of Australia. Team USA finished second in 3:55.98, while the Aussies did it in 3:54.95, netting themselves a world record in the process. In the 100m breaststroke prelims, Tara notched the third-best time out of 42 swimmers (1:07.28). The time was 0.29 seconds behind Brooke Hanson in first place, 0.20 behind second-place Amanda Beard, and 0.31 ahead of Jade Edmistone. In the semifinals, Tara had the second-fastest time (1:06.20) out of the 16 qualifying swimmers, 0.26 seconds behind Edmistone, 0.12 seconds ahead of third-place Hanson, and 0.84 ahead of Beard. Forgive us if we're a little biased here at Sports and B's when it comes to this. Go Tara.
With my sports-filled weekend half-over, it culminates with Rams/Seahawks. Man, I really want a Seahawk win...I'm giddy.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
It opens up with a sports radio call-in show talking about high school football, and from that moment, you get a feeling of how big high school football is in Texas. For me, it was my moment of "yeah, on King of the Hill, Bobby's middle school is Tom Landry Middle School for a reason!" Anyway, Coach Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) is bombarded left and right with suggestions from everyone's parents in town, many of the older men around town have state championship rings, and there's a ton of pressure. It's good, this movie. Boobie Miles was exactly the kind of guy I would have hated in high school. I guess I'll just say that Mike Winchell and Don Billingsley were two tough dudes. I was also glad when I realized Chris Comer (backup running back) wasn't Nick Cannon, as I had previously thought when seeing the promos. I'll have to say that I teared up after the final play (I'm man enough to admit this), because of two things -- (1) the resolutions of a couple of family-related things, and (2) it reminded me of the feeling I had when I realized I'd stepped onto a baseball field and donned a uniform for the last time. Baseball was something I never wanted to go away, and it was just there for me every year. Beginning when I was 13, it was what I did for at least the first half of summer. In my late teenage years, some other kids got jobs, and I played ball. So when I realized I'd have to find something else to do in the summer...tears. Hell, I'm a wimp. One last thing about the movie is that the music carries it along really well, and will probably be a very underrated part of the movie. Jeremy tipped me off to the band being Explosions From the Sky, which Allmusic.com says is an indie band from Texas that is "becoming touted as the next phenomenon in moody and dynamic instrumental indie rock." Three words that come to mind after seeing the film: LET'S GO MOJO!!
TRI-CITY TITANS VS. PUGET SOUND TOMAHAWKS
The Tomahawks took a 4-0 lead quickly, and I think that happened before the first period was half over. They dominated out of the gate, and for the most part didn't seem to commit a lot of mistakes. They also did a good job killing off their penalties, sans the double-minor in their own end in the third period. Since the game was out of Tri-City's reach for much of the game, there were some skirmishes and a few fights late in the game. But it wasn't just about the game for me, or the team that now has a record of 9-1, which anyone living in or near Bremerton should go see when they have the chance (next chance is in two weeks). I walked into the hometown rink for the first time (that popped up once I left town for college), and I'd forgotten how it felt like to walk into an ice rink. It's like walking near your grocer's freezer. Tickets are $7.50. I heard the crowd tonight was their largest of the season, and there were a couple hundred in there. Concessions are very reasonably priced; there's no $3 sodas or anything like that (I think they range from $1-$2). Ladies and gentlemen, the Puget Sound Tomahawks are quality entertainment and damn good hockey. They're 9-1. They looked great tonight. And so did the rink.
TARA KIRK
Okay, I didn't see Tara Kirk swim on Saturday, live or on television. But I've dug up Saturday's results for the fellow Bremerton Knight's doings. Saturday marked Day 3 at the FINA short course worlds, and the events at hand for Tara were the 4x100m medley relay (breaststroke leg) and the 100m breaststroke preliminaries and semifinals. Tara had the second leg of the 4x100m medley relay, matched up against Brooke Hanson of Australia. Team USA finished second in 3:55.98, while the Aussies did it in 3:54.95, netting themselves a world record in the process. In the 100m breaststroke prelims, Tara notched the third-best time out of 42 swimmers (1:07.28). The time was 0.29 seconds behind Brooke Hanson in first place, 0.20 behind second-place Amanda Beard, and 0.31 ahead of Jade Edmistone. In the semifinals, Tara had the second-fastest time (1:06.20) out of the 16 qualifying swimmers, 0.26 seconds behind Edmistone, 0.12 seconds ahead of third-place Hanson, and 0.84 ahead of Beard. Forgive us if we're a little biased here at Sports and B's when it comes to this. Go Tara.
With my sports-filled weekend half-over, it culminates with Rams/Seahawks. Man, I really want a Seahawk win...I'm giddy.
/ Click for main page
